Malus

Who ever said that the Socialist Party doesn’t have ideas? At any rate, Segolène Royal, she has ideas, yes she does.

In a long interview in the Parisien she recalls, for example, that she had suggested during the presidential campaign that school children make little French flags. "Oh, that’s a pretty flag, Kevin, but it doesn’t bear much resemblance." "It’s the flag of Bullshistan, that’s where I was born."

In the same interview Segolène Royal is concerned, even very worried, by the suffering experienced at the workplace. But she has an idea: set up a system of bonus/malus. "The enterprises that invest in improving working conditions will receive a bonus, while others that do not will get a malus." Now there’s a modern idea that recalls the old practice of collective bargaining: the extension of workers’ rights, or the increase in the number of workplace inspectors. A veritable hope for the future.

One could even do as one does for rights to pollute, create a market trading in rights to over-exploit. I buy your bonus to offset my malus. Or think: I am making super-profits, that’s well worth a little malus [2]. But look: Segolène Royal made a really bad suggestion. How much of a malus for a suicide? And when multiplied by 25? [3]

[2] This expression recalls the old saying attributed to the French king Henry IV: "Paris vaut bien une messe" ("Paris is well worth a Mass") See paragraph headed "Conversion" in the Wikipedia article.